Governor Kim Reynolds says she had no problem with Secretary of State Paul Pate sending absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in April — a move which led to record turn-out for last week’s June Primary.
“He sent our requests for an absentee ballot, so I think that was fine,” Reynolds said during a news conference late this morning in her statehouse office.
A bill scheduled for debate in the Iowa Senate today would forbid the secretary of state from doing that in the future. The measure also forbids county auditors from sending out absentee ballot request forms and it would limit the consolidation of polling places on Election Day. The governor is not sending a public signal of whether she approves of these changes.
“It’s been a long-standing practice of mine not to comment on legislation until I see it in final form and this applied to that as well,” Reynolds said, “so I know they’re having conversations and they’re discussing and I’ll wait and see where that ends up.”
More than half a million Iowans voters in the June 2nd primary, the vast majority by mail-in ballots.